Law and Order: SVU

Does anyone else laugh when watching intro credits to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. I've seen it one million and one times including just now, and it still gets me every time. It's great because they introduce real actors like Christopher Meloni.. Mariska Hargity.. Ice-T.. Ice-T? Are they serious? Why is Ice-T on this show? They don't even use his real name in the credits. Does he even have a real name? Is this the name his mother gave him? Also, why is he playing a cop? He use to write songs about killing cops, and now he plays one on TV. What a sell out! I really like the show though, and to be fair, Ice-T is pretty good on the show. But I just don't get it. I don't know how he got casted in this show. He's a rapper who plays a cop. Rappers hate cops.